Israeli hostage release: Celebrations as hostages freed, Trump arrives in Tel Aviv

Twenty hostages held by the Hamas terrorist group for 737 days were released from Gaza on Monday, locking in a ceasefire that could lead to permanent peace in the Palestinian enclave and triggering celebrations across Israel.

As news broke that the first seven hostages were on their way home at 8.20am, local time, wild cheers could be heard in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, where an estimated 6000 people had gathered in what has been dubbed Hostages Square. Many held posters of individual hostages or waved Israeli flags.

One of the released hostages, 25-year-old Matan Zangauker, was shown on a large television screen speaking to his mother on a video call from within the Gaza Strip.

“There’s no war, it’s over,” Einav Zangauker told her son. “You are coming home!”

Another 13 or so hostages were handed over by the Red Cross about three hours later. They were also allowed to contact their families from within Gaza under the supervision of masked gunmen. The Israeli military confirmed that Hamas had handed over the second group of surviving hostages, completing the release of all 20 living captives.

“According to information provided by the Red Cross, 13 hostages have been transferred into their custody and are on their way to IDF (military) and ISA (security agency) forces in the Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement.

Among those released was Rom Braslavski. Mr Braslavski, who was a security guard at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel when it was attacked by Hamas fighters two years ago, told his parents: “Everything is fine.”

The long-awaited release began not long after dawn when three four-wheel drive Red Cross vehicles with tinted windows left a compound in Gaza escorted by black-clad men on foot carrying assault rifles.

Men and boys watching on the side of the road did not interfere, in contrast to previous exchanges when hostages were jostled and jeered as they were handed over to the Red Cross.

The first photos of the freed hostages were published by the Israeli Government about 10.30am. Looking thin but physically unharmed, they were shown greeting Israeli soldiers at a reception point.

Among them was Matan Angrest, an Israeli soldier who was in a tank attacked by Hamas fighters near the Gaza perimeter fence on 7 October, 2023.

A video at the time showed the 22-year-old being pulled out from the tank unconscious and injured. Hostages released earlier said he suffered from chronic asthma, untreated burns and infections.

Inbar Goldstein, one of the throng at Hostages Square, told the BBC she was waiting for the return of all hostages before fully celebrating.

Her brother and niece were killed in the October 7 attacks, while her sister-in-law, niece and two nephews were taken hostage by Hamas before eventually being released in late 2023.

“Today I’m just happy and thankful,” she told the BBC.

“I know that sad days are still ahead but I want to separate between what I know and what I feel. It’s uplifting and it feels almost on the verge of being a spiritual moment.”

Included in the photographs released by the Israeli Government was an emotional embrace at the IDF reception point by brothers Gali and Ziv Bermam, who were both taken captive by Hamas.

Trump arrives

While the hostages were leaving Gaza, US President Donald Trump landed in Tel Aviv on Air Force One. The agreement “could be the biggest thing I was ever involved in,” he told reporters on the plane. “The war is over, you understand that?” he said.

Mr Trump was met on tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport by a military honour guard, Israeli president Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their wives, daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner shortly before 10am local time.

Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu could be seen deep in conversation as they were taken in the American presidential limousine to Jerusalem, where Mr Trump was to give a speech to the Knesset, or parliament. Israel plans to issue Mr Trump the country’s highest civilian award, the presidential medal of honour, in coming months, Mr Herzog’s office said.

At the Knesset the president signed a book commemorating his presence with the words: “A great and beautiful day. A new beginning. Donald J. Trump.”

The released hostages were taken to an Israeli military unit within the Gaza Strip, and from there were expected to go by road to the Reim military base in southern Israel for initial medical check-ups and reunification with close relatives.

Transport helicopters were on standby to take them to three hospitals in the Tel Aviv equipped with specialist units where they will begin their recovery.

The first group were taken to an Israeli military unit within the Gaza Strip, and from there were expected to go by road to the Reim military base in southern Israel for initial medical check-ups and reunification with close relatives. Transport helicopters were on standby to take them to three hospitals in the Tel Aviv equipped with specialist units where they will begin their recovery.

Two hours later it was confirmed the second group of 13 hostages — all men, mostly in their 20s — were now in the hands of the Red Cross. However it remained unclear if they had been transferred to the IDF or for medical care.

As the hostages were returning to Israel, the Israeli Government was preparing to release about 1700 Palestinian prisoners to Gaza, where they were arrested during the war.

Several buses left Israel’s Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank on Monday, with the Palestinian prisoners on board.

Israel’s prison authority had said over the weekend that it was preparing inmates who were due for release from two prisons, including Ofer, as part of the agreement.

Another 250 Palestinians serving life sentences will be sent into exile, according to the peace plan proposed by the US.

Invasion

Hamas captured 251 people on October 7, 2023, when an estimated 6000 armed Palestinians crossed from the Gaza Strip in the first large-scale invasion of Israeli since 1948.

All but 47 of those hostages were freed in earlier truces, with the families of those who have remained in captivity leading lives of constant pain and worry for their loved ones.

Most of the hostages captured two years ago had already been released, starting with children and the elderly, in return for short-term ceasefires.

After two years of fighting that devastated Gaza, Hamas agreed to a ceasefire last week that included the release of those remaining in captivity.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas was due to return the bodies of the 27 hostages who died or were killed in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza conflict.

Israel has said it did not expect all the bodies of the dead hostages to be returned on Monday.

Other elements of the ceasefire deal resulted in an Israeli blockade being lifted and supplies were last night beginning to pour in, delivered by international aid agencies.

All the remaining hostages were men, mostly in their 20s, who have had been held in tunnels and apartments with no direct contact with the outside world. Their release is meant to end the war.

Observers say getting Hamas to disarm and relinquish power could be difficult. “They’re not out of the woods yet,” said Colin Rubenstein, the executive director of the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council lobby group.

After meeting the hostages’ families and giving a speech to the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, Mr Trump will fly to the Egyptian town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where he will co-host, with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a gathering of about 20 world leaders.

Those attending include British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival and president of the Palestinian Authority. They will discuss how to implement the next phases of Mr Trump’s plan, including the disarmament of Hamas and the appointment of an international authority to manage Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu was not going to attend. On Monday morning the Egyptian government said he would, a turnaround that suggests momentum is building for a more permanent agreement.

Victims

Despite elaborate care planned for them, the hostages’ physical and psychological recovery will be difficult, experts say.

A survivor of the massacre at the Nova music festival in Southern Israel on October 7, Roei Shalev, took his own life on Friday.

Shot during the attack, he watched his girlfriend and best friend murdered.

Mr Shalev was found dead in his burned car north of Tel Aviv after posting a message on social media saying he felt he could not go on.

Geoffrey Majzner spoke to his sister, Galit Carbone, as Hamas fighters entered her house. The Sydney-born mother was the only Australian to die in the attack. Speaking at a lunch in Sydney on Monday, Mr Majzner expressed doubt he would see the hostages freed.

“Frankly I cannot see it till the moment I see them on Israeli soil and the bodies in the coffins,” he told The Nightly. “I won’t believe it until I see it.”